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April 04, 2011

MRG's

This weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Indianapolis to walk in the Run For Congo Women 5k. Run for Congo Women is a fundraiser walk that raises sponsorships for women who are victims of rape and war in DRC. I've been lucky enough in my life to travel to DRC and see the women there. I never like to make generalities of groups of people, the women in Congo are amazing beyond all reason. They not only survive, but thrive through unspeakable hardships. They raise their children without access to resources and modern medicine in a land where childhood mortality rates are entirely too high. They love their families with a ferocity that inspires me every time I think about it. They are masters at multiplying what they have and making something out of nothing. And the beauty... oh my word. Congolese women are breathtakingly beautiful. I have often joked that when it is time for my boys to find wives, that I will take them to DRC to fall in love because the women are just so beautiful. (Shallow I know!)

When I think about sponsoring women in DRC, I get excited because I have seen what treasures the Congolese women are without any help at all from anyone. But imagine how that same woman can change the course of her family and her village with someone behind her saying, "I believe in you." To me, that is a beautiful thing.

To make the weekend even better, I got to spend it with lots of the MRG's. (Mother's retreat girls) I have a hard time talking about this group of women. They mean too much to me to put into words very well. I wish that all 14 of us lived close enough to all get together but our outings fluxuate between the 8-10 of us that live within a three hour drive. We miss the ones that live too far away to join us on our weekend meetups!

These girls have become a part of my soul. I've never in my grown up life had a group of friends that functions independently from our children. I have groups of friends that get our kids together, etc. But the MRG's are there just for each other. We talk about our kids and significant others, but the group is really about us just being, well, us. We are silly sometimes (a lot!) we are serious, we laugh with each other, talk about sex all too much with each other, support each other, encourage one another throughout the week and take on each other's hurts and triumphs. I thought that this kind of group only existed in the movies, and somehow I've become lucky enough to have it in my real life. Each one of the women serves a different purpose in our group. Spending time with these gals sustains me during the daily grind of raising my kiddos.

In the group that got together for the run this weekend, three of the families have adopted children from Congo. The other 5 MRG's that came to the run are just so amazing that they said, "Hey, your cause is our cause. I'll get up at the crack of dawn and hoof it around a park because I love what's important to you." I love that about this group. We truly do take on each others causes and passions. What better way to spend a weekend than with these women supporting women in Congo. My two worlds collided and the subsequent merging was fantastic!

So- to my MRG's: I love you. Thanks for making my life so colorful and fun! Now- you get a car! And you get a car! Just kidding ;-)

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